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• Castleford 13-12 Widnes• Tigers bounce back from St Helens mauling for first win of 2018In the run-up to this game the Castleford coach, Daryl Powell, insisted he would have taken even the narrowest of victories as long as it meant the Tigers’ season…

Permanent link to this article: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/11/castleford-widnes-super-league-match-report

For Castleford, this was a night many of their supporters – and players – may have thought would never materialise. Many have attempted to devalue the importance of the League Leaders’ Shield as Castleford closed in on the prize in recent weeks, but as the gates were locked at this famous old ground just before kick-off, it would have taken a brave man to try to suggest it meant nothing for a town where rugby league is everything.

Greg Eden continued the remarkable revival of his career when he ran in five tries as Castleford took another important step towards ending their 91-year wait to win the championship with a resounding victory over Warrington which left them six points clear at the top of Super League.

On this form the 26-year-old winger looks capable of eclipsing the 40 tries scored by Denny Solomona last season to set the competition’s record before he departed for rugby union. This was Eden’s fifth hat-trick in six games – including a Challenge Cup treble against St Helens – taking his season’s tally to 30 in 18 league games.

Castleford took another step towards finally securing the title after almost a century of trying with a narrow home victory against St Helens. The win was notable also for the fact that they were without a number of key front-line players.

Daryl Powell, the Tigers’ head coach, made no secret of how, with this third game of a gruelling 10-day period, he would rest several big names to not only make a point to the sport’s schedulers but also to ensure that his Castleford players do not burn out in the long term.